


A Hug Every Morning

by Kavi Leighanna (kleighanna)



Series: Avery'verse [4]
Category: Rookie Blue
Genre: F/M, Family, like all the family, tumblr prompt fills
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-01-19 07:58:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 17,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1461721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kleighanna/pseuds/Kavi%20Leighanna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The lives of the Swareks with special appearances by all the aunts and uncles of Fifteen Division.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Avery's First Crush

**Author's Note:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked - Avery's first crush is Leo Nash.

Leo Nash is fifteen when Avery meets him for the first time. 

She’s never been a shy kid, so at four, she doesn’t hesitate to race right up to him. “Hi.”

He blinks down at her. “Hi.”

"Who are you?"

"Leo," he says, and crouches down beside her. That makes Avery happy. She hates craning her neck back. It hurts. "You?"

"Avery," she says. "Is Aunt Traci your Mama?"

"She is."

"She’s cool."

Leo chuckles. “She’ll be happy you said that.”

Avery nods, then tilts her head to the side. “She’s a superhero.”

He chuckles again, though Avery doesn’t know why. She doesn’t really care though because she likes his smile. “Something like that.”

"Mama’s a superhero too, and Daddy. And Uncle Oliver."

"Sounds like you’ve got a lot of superheroes."

Avery nods seriously. “‘Cept Cap’s the best.”

"Cap?"

She rolls her eyes and turns around, shows him the shield Daddy had strapped to her back. Daddy’s good at dress up. 

"Oh! Captain America. Yeah, he’s cool. But Iron Man’s super-smart and can fly."

Avery blinks. “You know them all?”

"The Avengers? Yeah. Black Widow, Hawkeye, the Hulk-"

Avery’s eyes go wide. “Will you play with me?”

Leo shrugs. “Sure thing, Kid.”

Avery’s four when she has her first crush.


	2. Giving Katie The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked - Sam and Andy being awkward about something...

Katie’s reading on her laptop when her parents both poke their heads into her room. She arches an eyebrow, turning in her seat. “Hi.”

"Hey Bug," her dad says, the first one (and it looks like the bravest, if the look on her mom’s face is any indication) to step through her door. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Katie answers with a shrug. 

(She hasn’t done anything wrong that she can think of. Her grades are steady, she’s still drawing for the art show at school and Mama read her history essay just last night. She has no upcoming homework and as far as she know her parents haven't been hinting that she spends too much time in her room again. She has no idea what this is about, but her parents get things in their heads sometimes.)

"You’re sixteen now," Mama starts, "And that means that you’re going to start taking interest in boys."

Actually, that happened like four years ago when Callum Stewart had walked into her seventh grade homeroom and stolen her heart. And proceeded to break it two weeks later, but Katie’s pretty resilient. 

"And you may want to- to do things with these boys,” Dad goes on. 

And Katie knows where this is going. There’s a part of her that wants to let her parents suffer through it, try and explain sex and the mechanics and give her the ‘rules’. But another part of her doesn’t want this awkwardness hanging over their heads. Her dad looks like he might be sick. 

So she sighs. “You guys know the writing I do?”

"Yeah," Mama says, crossing her arms over her chest. "I’m still offended you won’t let us read it."

Katie ignores that jab. It’s private, is the thing, so she’s going to keep it close to her chest as long as she can. “You know I post it online right? That I read other people’s stories?”

"Yeah." This time, her dad. 

"And you know how you guys told us that you trust us to stay away from sites we know we shouldn’t be on? That was how we agreed not to put the parent limits in effect?"

(That had been a fight. Katie’s pretty sure she’s never seen Avery that angry. But Avery had fought for independence much harder than Katie ever has. Katie thinks it’s a firstborn thing.)

"Yes," Mama says. "Did you break that rule?"

Katie shrugs. “I didn’t look at anything I wasn’t supposed to. But let me say this: The Talk you’re about to give me? About all the sex stuff? Don’t bother. The internet already did.”


	3. Danny Ruins Avery's Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked - Danny ruining one of Avery's school projects, and Sam pulling an all nighter to fix it.

It is entirely innocent. 

Danny’s just trying to help, really he is. Thing is, at three he doesn’t quite understand what they’re doing. And so instead of ripping up just general construction paper, he’s ripped Avery’s project apart. That would have been the end of it, if Boo Radley hadn’t been under the table thinking the toddler would be dropping scraps. If the pieces aren’t shredded, they’re slobbered on.

(In his defence, the poor kid’s been watching Sam and Avery tear construction paper for hours. It wasn’t like he’d had any idea that Avery had painstakingly glued all the pieces down while her brother and sister had been playing in the bath. And Boo, well, Boo’s just used to mooching. They should train him out of that, Sam thinks.)

Avery’s a mess. She’s livid and upset and can barely get a word out through her tears. Sam’s tried everything to sooth her (she’d even taken an actual swing at her brother and Avery never resorts to violence) but nothing’s worked. As it is, they’ve got her upstairs in the big bed with the TV on. They don’t like to do it, but there’s only two of them and Andy’d been in charge of corralling Danny. 

(To be honest, they’d kind of forgotten about Katie, a bit. She’s the stereotypical middle child though and Andy had eventually discovered her playing quietly in her room. When he’d poked his head in to check on Avery, they’d been curled up together. Katie had even tucked Star, her horse, under Avery’s arm.)

Which leaves Sam. And a completely ruined project. 

He huffs and starts pulling the pieces together, trying to figure out if there’s anything to salvage. It’s where Andy finds him when she’s finally put Danny down.

"The girls?"

"Still watching TV." Her nose wrinkles adorably, and Sam just waves her off. 

"Special circumstances."

Andy nods. “Can we save anything?”

Sam huffs. “No,” he admits. “What Danny didn’t get, Boo did.”

"Great," his wife says, plopping into a chair. "When is it due?"

"Tomorrow." 

"Of course it is."

They exchange a look. As a general rule, they like their kids to do things themselves. They want to instill a good work ethic and they want all three of their kids to grow up to be independent and not reliant on them to fix all of their problems. But…

"Special circumstances," Andy finally says. "I’ll put them to bed."

And Sam stays up way past his bedtime, carefully ripping and gluing a picture together. It’s entirely worth it in the morning when Avery squeals and hugs him so tight. 

Even if he had been forced to create a construction paper mosaic of a unicorn.


	4. Dov and Danny Causing Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked - Dov and Danny up to no good.

It’s the giggle that draws Dov’s attention first. It’s tiny and little and not something he generally hears in a police station.

Turns out, there’s a kid under his desk. 

"Whoa, where did you come from?"

"Mama," the kid says, plopping on his butt in the back corner. The kids looks like a toddler, can’t be older than four and promptly sticks his thumb in his mouth, his hand wrapped around a stuffed bear. It’s a familiar face, but there isn’t a kid he can picture with hair like this one. It’s an absolute mess.

"Your mom’s here? Where?"

But the kid says nothing, just sits there, sucking his thumb. 

"Buddy, where’s your mom?"

"Dunno," the kid answers around his thumb. "Work."

"She’s at work? Where does she work."

"Here!" he answers, throwing his arms up. Then he brings his finger to his mouth. "Shh."

"Isn’t your mom going to be looking for you?"

He nods his head. “Shh.”

"Oh. Oh! Hide and seek?"

He nods. “I hide!”

"Dov, have you seen Danny? My son?"

It’s Andy standing over his desk, looking harried. “Your son? Is it take your kid to work day?”

"He’s four," Andy says, deadpan. "Look, he’s drawn on half of my reports and I have to start them from scratch. If you see him, scoop him up?"

"Will do," Dov agrees solemnly. He waits for Andy to walk away before he ducks back under his desk. 

"Danny?"

The kid nods. 

"God, I didn’t recognize you. Did your sister cut your hair?"

"Chop chop," he says. Then. "Shh."

Dov laughs as he sits up again, making sure to press a shoe gently against Danny’s leg, just in case. He doesn’t want the kid to sneak out the same way he’d snuck in. He figures he’ll hide the kid ‘til Andy panics, not that she generally does when she brings the kids in. Inevitably someone ends up picking them up, they’re all friends here. But just in case, he grabs his phone, sends a quick text to Sam. Andy he can handle. Sam… Well Sam is scary. Still.

"Yeah, Buddy," he murmurs as he goes back to his reports. "Shh."


	5. Class Trip to Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked - Avery's class has a field trip to the precinct.

"Okay everyone, let’s line up. Make sure you have your partner."

Avery bounces on her toes and all but ignores the hand Lea holds out to her. 

"Avery," Lea hisses. "Come on."

But Avery’s not listening. She’s not even listening to Mrs Watson, who’s admirably trying to corral 25 five-year-olds. She can’t help it. She’s too excited. But then Lea’s got her arm and drags her along with the pace of the class. They end up in the white board room (Avery doesn’t really know what’s it’s called, but it’s the one Daddy says they get their cars in) and she scrambles with Lea for one of the swirly chairs. 

"Now remember, no bothering officers working," Mrs Watson says. "And be polite. We’re going to have someone talk to us first, about the kind of things that these officers do."

But Avery can’t sit still. She just… She wants to see Uncle Oliver. Or maybe Aunt Traci and Uncle Steve. Maybe Uncle Dov’ll let her sit in the car again. But instead, Uncle Best comes in and Avery has to sit quietly. And she tries, she really, really does, but then she sees Mama through the window. 

"Mama!" 

She’s off like a shot, startling everyone, including Mama herself. But Mama’s always had good reflexes and she manages to catch Avery without tumbling backwards. 

"Hey, baby," Mama says, shifting her grip. "What are you doing here?"

"Our trip," Avery answers easily and turns her head back to her class. Mrs Watson’s standing in the doorway, looking a little surprised and a lot sheepish. 

"Was that today?" Mama asks. "I forgot. Hey, Mrs Watson."

"Mrs Swarek. Or, Officer."

"Mrs is fine," Mama says. "Ave, I have to go, okay? And you ran out on Uncle Best, so you make sure you say sorry."

Avery frowns, but it’s only a moment before she kisses her Mama’s cheek. Mama sets her down and Avery wiggles past Mrs Watson. She pauses before she climbs up to her seat and folds her hands behind her back. 

"Sorry, Uncle Best," she says dutifully as her class watches on. 

"Apology accepted, Avery," he answers easily and with a smile. Avery likes his smile. 

She climbs back into her seat and Sebastian, the most annoying boy in senior kindergarten leans over. 

"Your Mommy’s a policeman?" 

Avery sits up a bit straighter. “And my Daddy, and all my uncles. And Aunt Traci and Aunt Gail and Aunt Chloe and Aunt Noelle-“

"Wow," Sebastian says. "That’s so cool."

Avery wiggles happily. She thinks so too.


	6. Uncle Oliver Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked - Uncle Oliver babysitting.

"Of course dragons are real."

Danny looks up at Oliver with wide eyes. “Really?”

He flips the kid over in his arms, hangs him upside down in revenge for using him like a jungle gym. “Of course. Who do you think eats all of your socks in the dryer?”

"Dragons don’t eat socks," Katie says over her book. She’s been quiet all night, but Oliver’s not worried. Katie’s usually pretty quiet. "Dragons protect princesses. And their eggs."

"They’re not real," Avery argues, moving her Avengers figurines over the Risk game board. She plays this game often, like she’s plotting out a war. He’d be worried if she wasn’t the most compassionate kid he’s ever met. "When have you seen Superman fight a dragon? Or Batman?"

"That doesn’t make them fake," Danny argues petulantly. "Uncle Oliver, I want a dragon for my birthday."

"Oh yeah? They’re pretty big. Where are you going to keep him?"

"The backyard!" 

"Your tiny little yard? You won’t be able to play ball anymore. No more soccer in the backyard. No more hide and seek."

"That’s what the park is for," Danny says solemnly. "Momma doesn’t like ball in the yard."

"That’s because you almost broke the window," Avery pipes up. "Mama said you miss by centimeters."

"Look at you with the two dollar words."

Avery gives him a gap-toothed smile. “We’re studying them in school. How to measure things. Mama let me bake cookies.”

Of course she had. For a woman that had been so damn nervous about having kids, Oliver thinks Andy’s done a phenomenal job with hers. 

"You know what?" Oliver says, turning back to his conversation with Danny. "If you can show me a place big enough for a pile of gold - because that’s what they live on - then we’ll work on finding one for you."

Sam and Andy, both having pulled shift, choose that moment to come in the door. Danny wiggles and Oliver has to dive to the couch to make sure he can put the kid down safely. Danny scrambles, races towards the door and his parents. 

"Momma, Daddy! Uncle Ollie says he’ll buy me a dragon for my birthday!" 

Oliver sighs. From the look on Sam’s face, he has some explaining to do.


	7. Avery's First Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> benjaminscookies asked - Avery's first word.

Sam’s at work. He and Nash drew the short straw on surveillance and they’re all but twiddling their thumbs when Andy’s call comes in. Sam arches an eyebrow as he checks his phone and accepts the video call.

"We’re only here for another hour, McNally. This couldn’t wait?"

"No," she whispers, and his eyebrow arches again, but lowers his voice to match hers. 

"Everything okay?"

She nods. “You need to hear this.”

Sam arches an eyebrow at his wife as she creeps up to the door of their daughter’s room. Avery’s freshly one and he can hear her baby babble. (Avery talks to herself, whether he and Andy are around or not. She’s done it since she started making noises, talking to her stuffed animals, her toys, even the Duplo blocks. He’s a little afraid of what’s to come when she actually starts forming words and sentences.)

She sounds happy, probably just woke up from her nap (Andy pulled a late shift, so they didn’t have to leave Avery with Tommy) and he can picture her bouncing on the mattress of the crib. But it takes him a minute to really figure out what’s going on. 

"Dadadadada."

"McNally, she’s been babbling like that for six months."

"Listen," Andy presses and Sam shoots Nash a look that says she’s not allowed to ever show this to anyone. Except Nash looks stunned. Andy steps into Avery’s room (she gets this smile on her face a mix of pride and awe like she can’t believe they have a little girl) and over to the crib. She flips the phone around and he watches Avery pull herself up on the edge of her crib. 

"Dadadadadada."

"Come on, McNally I-"

But Avery’s gone silent and it’s that, more than anything else, that has him shutting up too. 

"Call her," Andy urges. 

"Ave, hey Avery. Hi Princess."

There’s a little laugh as Avery bounces (he’s always nervous when she does that, afraid she’s going to knock herself over) and Andy says. “Who is it, baby? Who do you hear? Sam, keep talking to her.”

He feels like an idiot, especially with Nash grinning like an idiot beside him. “Did you have a good nap, Princess?”

"See, who’s that Ave?"

"Dada."

This time it’s sure and solid and Sam feels his breath catch. 

"Yeah," he hears Andy say, hears the tears in her voice. "That’s your Daddy."

Sam laughs, ignores the way his eyes are tearing. Nash won’t say anything. She’s got kids of her own. 

"Sam?"

"Yeah," he says, voice choked. "Yeah."

There’s a moment before Andy says. “We’ll see you in an hour. Avery, say bye to Daddy.”

And he gets the most precious wave from his one year old daughter.


	8. Avery Finds Out She's Going to be a Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked - Sam and Andy telling Avery that she's going to be a big sister.

"Hey Ave. What are you up to?"

Avery hums as she smudges her fingers over her page. She, Katie and Bumps have been finger painting because Mama and Daddy work. Avery gets it, kind of. They’re superheroes like her Cap. She likes Cap, even though she can’t watch the movies yet. 

A little more blue, she thinks. Then it’ll be perfect. 

“‘Aint!”

Mama laughs and runs a hand over Avery’s head as she kisses Katie’s cheek. “You are painting, that’s right.”

Katie hums her own tune, sliding paint across the tray of her high chair. She always does that.

"What are you painting?" Daddy asks, tugging gently on Avery’s ponytail. 

"Cap’s shield," Avery says easily. "It’s special."

"Oh yeah?" Daddy says as she lets him lift her and settle her on his lap. 

"Uh huh. It makes sure he can keep people safe. Like you and Mama."

Mama hums. “Hey, baby can we talk to you?”

Avery freezes. She can’t help it. It’s never good when Mama and Daddy want to talk to her. 

"Katie, you too," Daddy says. He always talks to Katie like she’s a big girl even though Avery’s older and talks better. Still, Mama has to take Katie’s paints and picture off the tray before Katie listens. 

Mama turns to Katie first. “Remember when Auntie Traci had a baby in her tummy?”

Avery’s eyes widen. Her head swings around to Daddy’s, then back to Mama. “Mama?”

Mama’s smile is wide and happy and it makes Avery smile too. Mama has that effect on her. 

"Baby!" Katie exclaims, throwing her hands in the air. She catches Mama’s cheek and smudges paint there. 

"Yeah, Bug," Mama says. "Except this time it’s Mama’s baby."

"Mama?" 

Katie looks confused, but Avery can barely contain her excitement. “Like me, Katie! Like me!”

Katie’s still confused and Avery wiggles in Daddy’s lap. “Like me and you! Sisty,” Avery says. 

"Sisty!" Katie repeats, reaching for Avery. 

"Maybe," Daddy says and he looks at Mama. Avery knows they’re having one of those talks where they say a million things with their eyes. Avery never understands those. "Maybe this time it’ll be a brother."

Avery isn’t sure she likes that idea. She wrinkles her nose as she looks up at Daddy. “What do we do with one of those?”


	9. Sam and Avery Playing Catch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked - Sam and Avery are playing catch in the backyard and break a kitchen window.

It’s her first summer home from university.

He and Andy had been adamant that each of their three kids go away for post-secondary. It’s a growing experience that they both want for Avery, Katie and Danny, but what that also means is because of final assignments and exams, they haven’t seen Avery in over a month. 

(It’s a long time for them. Avery’s been coming home almost every three weeks and while she’s cited laundry and home cooking, the way she’s still almost anxious to dog pile with all of them during their Friday night movie tells Sam she misses being home.)

So the first nice day that he has off (and she does, because she’s picked up her part-time at Second Cup again, ambitious Swarek that she is) they grab their battered gloves and a ball that has definitely seen better days and head out into the backyard. 

His firstborn is full grown now, in shorts he maybe doesn’t quite approve of, but knows he has no say in, and so reminiscent of her mother he has almost a flashback of that brash young officer. Avery hasn’t chosen law enforcement (she wants to be a teacher of all things) but he can still see Andy in her almost every movement. 

(It’s funny, he thinks, how his three kids kind of bracket each other. Avery and Danny are much more like Andy, loud and brash even as she’s settled into adulthood. But their middle daughter, Katie, is calmer, stronger, steadier. Him.

He will never get over picking his kids apart. There’s nothing more intriguing in the world, he thinks, than watching them grow and change and develop into three entirely different people.)

They warm up slowly, not really putting much effort into it. He tries to shove back the massive flashbacks of teaching her to toss that ball, of the hours they’d spent at the park and down at the Lakeshore doing this exact thing. It’s soothing and as life had become more chaotic with all three of his kids inching towards adulthood, it was time that they reserved for each other.

(It’s funny how that works too, how there’s an ‘activity’ that he does with each of his kids. He and Katie do the Star crossword every Saturday morning. Danny’s gotten into golf, of all sports, and while it’s not Sam’s favourite, it’s something he gets to do with his son. For Avery, it’s always been baseball, since her Bumps introduced her to it as a kid.)

"So, you know I’ve been doing that volunteer work with the aboriginals in Brantford?"

It takes him a minute to figure it out, to scroll through all of his knowledge to find what she’s talking about. “Yeah. The YMCA, right?”

She bobs her head, the universal sign for ‘good enough’ and tosses the ball back to him. They each take a step back, widening the gap between them. “I think I want to change my major.”

"You don’t want to teach?"

She shrugs. He waits. Avery isn’t great at keeping her mouth shut when she’s made a decision. 

"I’m thinking social work."

"Yeah?"

She steps back again and he follows. It stretches his arm a bit, makes him really work for it, but it’s still soothing in the chaos of life. 

"I want to give back, you know? Like you and Mama."

"You could do that as a teacher."

She wrinkles her nose. “I want more.”

Sam shrugs. If it’s what she wants to do then it’s what she wants to do.

(They’ve never been those parents that have plans for their kids, like a doctor or a lawyer. The only thing that matters to him and to Andy is that their kids are happy with what they’re doing. If Avery thinks she’ll be happier in social work, he’s not going to stand in her way.)

"Have you looked into it? The courses and stuff."

Avery nods. Of course she’s looked into it. It’s a bit of a stupid question. “Most of my courses will transfer too. I have to pick up the first year social work, but that’s it. The rest already count. And its one less year.”

They’ve shifted further apart now, getting to the point where they actually have to use effort. Avery winds up and throws and maybe he’s distracted by their conversation or maybe she throws it just a bit wide, but it goes sailing past him. 

And right through the kitchen window.

They look at each other, guilt all over their faces. Andy’s going to kill them. How many times has she lectured them about ball in the backyard? There’s a reason they live as close to a park as they do. 

Sam sighs, gets his arm around Avery’s shoulder. “Shit.”

Avery pats her dad’s chest. “Just like old times.”

"Your mother’s going to kill us."

"Yup. But hey, at least we go playing baseball."

Sam laughs.


	10. Katie as the Middle Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked - Katie having a typical middle child experience. (Maybe Sam and Andy set a whole special day aside for her as a result).

Katie Swarek is the forgotten child.

Okay, that’s harsh, she knows. It’s not her siblings’ faults. They’re louder than she is, by far, and infinitely more demanding. Katie’s just not that person. She’s a people-pleaser by nature and it’s often easier to just give into everyone else’s demands than it is to push for her own. It’s not her parents’ fault either. She knows that she’s not actually forgotten and she knows her parents love her absolutely and unconditionally. She also knows that Avery and Danny are easier to figure out than she is. And she’s okay with that, she really is. She came to terms with herself a long time ago.

(Actually, it’s Uncle Ollie that explained it to her. 

"Some people just like quiet," he’d told her once, when he’d found her inside when everyone else was outside. "And that’s okay. That doesn’t mean that you’re better or worse than your brother and sister, it means that you’re different, and that means you need different things. And Katie, that’s okay.”

And if Uncle Ollie says it’s okay, it’s always okay. Daddy taught her that a long time ago. If Mommy and Daddy aren’t around, Uncle Ollie’s in charge.)

Sometimes though, doubt sneaks in. Sometimes, she gets frustrated because she’s always dragged along to Avery’s dance classes or Danny’s soccer games. No one sits with her during her art classes, or reads the history books with her while they wait for one of the other activities to finish. It can be grating to watch Frozen for the millionth time because Avery called it first rather than Night at the Museum, which is Katie’s favourite, or read another I Spybook she knows by heart because Danny finds history boring. 

It’s after one of those tough weeks, where Katie’s felt shunted aside the whole time, where she’s withdrawn into herself because she’s safe there and she can’t get hurt, that Daddy wakes her up early. 

"Hey Bug."

(No one’s sure where the nickname came from. They think it might have been Avery while Katie was in the womb.)

"Hi, Daddy."

"It’s time to get up," he says, smiling at her. Daddy’s smile. She likes Daddy’s smile. It’s wide and open and real. 

"Do we have school?"

"Nope. It’s Saturday. But Mommy and I have a surprise, so you have to get up, okay? Downstairs, ten minutes."

That gives her five to wake up before she has to find clothes and head downstairs. She’s the last one there and a piece of her sighs. Family day. She wonders which Avery- or Danny-approved adventure they’ll be going on today. 

But she doesn’t find out over breakfast and she knows something’s up when Bumps comes over. That’s not normal. Neither is the way Bumps draws Avery and Danny away from the table, leaving her with Mommy and Daddy. 

Now she’s really confused. 

"Ready for your surprise, Bug?"

Even Mommy looks excited and Katie looks warily between her parents. 

"We know it’s been a tough week," Mommy says, leaning over to brush at Katie’s hair. It’s getting long. She keeps meaning to ask if they can make an appointment. "So, Daddy and I thought maybe we could do something with you today."

"Just you," Daddy pipes up as Katie’s jaw drops.

"Me?" Katie breathes. A whole day and both Mommy and Daddy to herself!

"Yes you," Mommy says. "Daddy and I did some research. The Art Gallery has a special exhibit for kids open right now, or the museum has a special exhibit on ancient China. What are we going to visit today?" 

"China,’ Katie says immediately. "Can we go to China? And then see the dinosaurs? And the mummy cats?"

Daddy laughs and plucks her from her seat. She’s getting older, she knows, but Daddy can still pick her up, can still swing her around the room. “Whatever you want, Bug. It’s your day.”

Katie grins, because she knows it’s easy to see her as the forgotten child, the middle-born who is stuck between her siblings because she can’t stand up for herself. But Katie knows different. Katie knows she’s loved and she knows, with just a little bit of patience, good things always come.


	11. "Your Kid before 5AM"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked - "Mm…your kid before five in the morning.” Sam & Andy

The screaming starts at two.

It jolts them both awake and Andy groans as she rolls into Sam’s shoulder. “This is the worst.”

He grunts an agreement before he rolls over and buries his head in his pillow. It dislodges her and she frowns at his back. “Hey, Detective. Not cool. Your son is screaming.”

"Your kid before five in the morning," he manages to mumble. 

Andy grumbles, but she does get out of bed, turning down the baby monitor as she goes. Her son’s chubby cheeks are soaked with tears and she shushes him quietly as she picks him up. 

(It’s funny, because Sam’s kind of right in a way. He’s the one who almost always got up when Avery and Katie were teething, but Danny, Danny’s her baby boy and it’s stupidly stereotypical, she knows, but there’s something about Danny she just can’t let go of.

Sam makes fun of her, of course, how she’ll feel when he goes to his first day of school, when he says his first word, takes his first steps. Andy’s resolutely ignoring all these things, along with his first date, his prom, his driving lessons…)

"Hey, Bud," she says, bouncing him against her hip. Danny’s drooling like a faucet and she kisses his forehead as they head downstairs. She smiles when he makes little grabby hands at the frozen plastic ring and chomps down on it almost immediately. 

"I bet that feels better. You poor thing. Making teeth is hard work!"

She chuckles to herself as she heads to the living room, shoving Katie’s stuffed horse out of the way so she can have a couch cushion. They have to remember to tell the girls to pick up their toys. Well, at least as best they can considering they’re both still toddlers. It’s getting chaotic. 

She settles down and turns on the television. It’s still surreal, she thinks, as she flips through various late night crap. She can remember doing this five, seven, ten years ago. Up late and unable to sleep, flipping through infomercials and twenty-four hour news channels. Back then though, she didn’t have a husband sleeping upstairs, nor two little girls. And definitely not the tiny comforting, if quite wiggly weight of her son against her chest. 

Her life is entirely different and while she may have to be up in two hours for work, she knows she wouldn’t change a damn thing.


	12. Andy Tells Sam She's Pregnant - Avery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked - Andy finding out and telling Sam she's pregnant with Avery.

She drops a tiny, shiny wrapped package on his desk, complete with gauzy pink ribbon.

His gaze rises to hers slowly, his eyebrow rising as he does. “And it’s not even my birthday.”

But Andy doesn’t even flash a smile. On the other hand, she’s biting her lip and normally, it’s adorable and even arousing, but he can see the anguish in her eyes, the uncertainty. This is personal and the fact that’s she’s bringing it up at work makes him nervous. 

(When they’d gotten married, they’d made each other two promises: home stays at home, and never go to bed angry. 

They’ve been really good about the first. The second… With their tempers it’s sometimes a 50/50.)

So he picks up that little package and unwraps the thing. A pregnancy test. “McNally?”

(He still does that sometimes, like a reflex. It happens when he’s surprised by her, when she does something he’s not expected and can’t seem to wrap his head around it. 

It happens more than he’d like to admit.)

"You have to open it," she says and waves away his nose wrinkles. "There’s a cap."

He knows what two lines means (they’ve had a handful of pregnancies over the years and he can still vividly remember everything with Noelle an ice age ago) but he still gapes at her like a fish. They’d talked about it, and Andy had gone off the pill three months prior, but he’d figured that they’d be easily a year with their schedules and all the research she’d done.

(And hadn’t that been adorable in it’s own right, the way she’d blushed when she’d opened that file of bookmarks.)

"Andy."

There’s a moment, then a sound and it’s almost hysterical. He’s out of his seat half a second later, wrapping his arms about her right there in the middle of Fifteen. 

"Andy."

She grins, then nods. “I’m pregnant.”


	13. "Mondays are your diaper days"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked - "Mondays are your diaper days.” Sam & Andy

Sam knows Avery’s got him whipped. He loves all of his children, of course, but he has this squishy tender spot for his eldest. He doesn’t miss a single thing if he can help it, not after that terrible Halloween party.

(He vividly remembers Andy walking through the door. Avery had been sobbing in her mother’s arms - and they’d agreed to stop carrying her because she’s getting so big - but when Sam had reached out for his kid, she’d flinched away. 

He thinks the only thing worse than his daughter’s tears are his wife’s.)

So when her open dance class comes up, he makes sure he is not on shift that day. He doesn’t actually like dance recitals as a general rule. The moms can be pretty catty (not all of them, of course, but enough of them to make him uncomfortable) but there isn’t a damn thing he won’t do for Avery.

(They’re lucky too. Katie’s always been a quiet kid, well-behaved so long as she’s not bored. Even then, his second baby is a mommy’s girl and as long as she can curl up against Andy’s heart. Danny’s a phenomenal sleeper and both Andy and Sam know he’ll be out before Avery ever hits the stage. He can’t help it. He’s only a few months old.)

He watches all of the kids (the class allows each of them to have some one-on-one time with the teacher, so they can show off to their parents), juggles Danny on his leg. He can see the other parents watching him, watching Andy, watching the quiet way Andy reacts to Katie, the easy way he juggles his wiggly son. 

It’s almost Avery’s turn, he knows. He can see the way she’s bouncing, vibrating, from her spot on the floor. And Danny takes that time to release a whimper that both he and Andy know well. 

Andy’s eyebrow goes up. “Mondays are your diaper days.”

It is, he knows that. It’s the easiest system they could make out when Avery was born. His eyes go to his eldest and back to his wife. He cannot miss her one-on-one. He’s a cop, strong and damn good at his job, but the wrath of his daughter absolutely terrifies him. 

"She’ll be fine," Andy says. 

She’s right. He’s got enough time. It’s just Danny, and as long as they have the teething ring in the baby bag, he’ll just lay there. 

(Danny’s a chewer, they’ve discovered. He’s not actually teething, but they’ve ended up with more slobbery toys that they can shake a fist at. Including Katie’s favourite baby blanket that she’d refused to even touch. That had been a night from hell, trying to balance the fact that their little girl was exhausted, but refused to sleep without Binkie.)

Except the minute he stands, even though he’s got the bag over his shoulder, he glances to Avery and sees her face fall. And he knows he cannot. He looks to Andy again, because Danny’s starting to fuss, but Avery’s face-

"Oh my God, Sam, she’s just a kid. It’s just a diaper." 

He gives his wife the most plaintive look he can muster. He never uses it, it makes him feel way too vulnerable and completely undermines his bad cop reputation, but he would much rather Andy mock him for how whipped he is by his daughter than have Avery give him the silent treatment for a week. 

Finally Andy huffs. 

"I get to tell Shaw," she says. "And Peck. And Collins."

And probably the majority of Fifteen. He can take it. He’ll take it for Avery. 

He and Andy trade kids and Avery just waves as her mom walks out with her youngest sibling. 

Andy is back before Avery’s turn, but Sam still feels like he dodged a bullet. And he’s not just talking about the diaper.


	14. Be Careful What you Wish for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tropes Meme - Sam and Andy 7 - Be careful what you wish for

It’s funny, he thinks. He can vividly remember Andy handing him the pregnancy test that told them she was pregnant for the first time. He can remember the doctor’s appointments, and the heartbeat, he remembers learning she was a girl and holding her for the first time, then doing it all again for the second. He remembers the moment they’d found out Danny was going to be Danny and his irrational elation over finally having a son. He remembers their first days of school, their first accidents, their first fights. 15 used to play trivia games with him because he always knew each class his kids took, in high school and university. 

And he remembers Andy, one terrifying day after they just barely managed to save a kid’s life, when she’d asked him what he wished for their kids. 

"I want them to be happy," he’d answered honestly. "I want them to have good careers, I want them to be good people. And I want them to find good people. I want them to take the time to figure out who they are and I want them to do what they want, not always what we want. I-" And he remembers stumbling because there had been this knot in his chest that he swears was not, in anyway, from the sheer amount of emotion welling up in him. "I want them to be amazing."

She’d beamed, over which part, he’s not sure. And she’d kissed him soundly. (He’s pretty sure they made Danny that night.)

But now, now he’s standing at the back of the aisle, listening to all the girl chatter around him and watching his amazing little girl straighten her wedding dress. She’s the last one to walk down the aisle (which isn’t a surprise to him if he’s honest, she’s always been the one to take her time. For a baby who had been almost a month premature, she’s always taken life at a slower speed than her siblings) and he doesn’t quite know how to process that information. 

They’re long moved out of the house, his three kids, and it’s down to just him and Andy now. They like it, mostly. After years of chaos, it’s been nice to have a few years of quiet. (That quiet’s going to be shattered soon, he thinks, because he’s 90% sure there’s a grandkid on the way. He’s observant like that.)

But he honestly hadn’t expected giving his daughter away at her wedding to feel like this. 

"Dad, stop it!" she exclaims. "If you start I will and I’m going to be a mess."

"Since when have you cared about things like that?" he teases, but steps up to her, fiddling with the damn delicate fabric of her veil. She is an absolute vision and he’s going to take great pride in putting her wedding photos up beside her MFA grad photo. Then Andy’s bustling through, moving people out of the way, lining up bridesmaids and groomsmen, taking care to ensure that the flower girl is in place (Shaw’s granddaughter. Shaw’s granddaughter.)

His wife walks with the rest of the bridal party down the aisle and then it’s his turn. His Katie flashes him a smile and presses a little kiss to his cheek before they head out. 

About half way down the aisle he remembers teasing Shaw about Izzie’s wedding, remembers also lamenting the fact that he couldn’t wait until all his kids were moved out and he could have some peace again. 

And he remembers exactly what Shaw had said, with an air of bittersweetness:

Be careful what you wish for.


	15. Mother's Day Breakfast - Avery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tackledmetriedtokissme asked:Avery helping Sam make Andy mothers day breakfast.

"Daddy."

Sam buries his head further in the pillow. It’s too early, his body’s telling him. Too early to be functioning or living or anything. But apparently his first-born doesn’t share that mentality. At all. She never has. 

"Daddy."

He wants to groan, but Avery can get so grumpy when she’s determined to get her point across. She’s like her mother that way. “Ave, it’s early.”

"It’s sixes, Daddy."

Yeah, that doesn’t help. Anything in the sixes is too early to be awake and functioning. Unless he has to be at work and even then, it can be a bit rough, especially considering how late he and Andy were-

Well. 

He sighs and pulls himself from bed, glad to see Andy’s habit of sleeping like the dead now that Katie sleeps through the night is back in full swing. She’s always been a heavy sleeper. He’d be jealous, but sometimes it means he gets these early morning hours with Avery and Katie, his little girls, and he can’t hate that. He scoops Avery up and heads into the hallway. 

"What’s got you up so early?" he asks as he wanders down the hall. 

Avery picks at his hole-y t-shirt. “It’s Momma’s Day.”

Oh. 

"You’re right," he says, bouncing her a little down the stairs, just to see her giggle and grab on tighter. Oliver always says these years go by so fast, so Sam tends to revel in them when he gets the chance. 

"And you promised I could help make Momma breakfast." 

Oh, when the hell had he done that and what had he been thinking? Avery means well, she always does, but she’s about as useful as Andy in the kitchen for anything that requires actual prep-work. 

(He does most of the cooking, though he’s pretty sure part of that is just that he has a metabolism that requires a more healthy diet than Andy tends to favour. They’re both trying, for the kids, but she’s still working on the whole cooking from scratch thing. 

They eat a lot of pre-prepared casseroles.)

But, he’d promised. So he sets Avery on the counter and slides a chair from the kitchen table. They have little aprons for Katie and Avery (usually for painting or messy crafts, but they’re useful for this too) and he slides Avery’s over her head. 

"What’s on the menu this morning?" 

"Cakes," Avery says, her face serious. He can see why people immediately think of him when she gets that look on her face. 

"Pancakes it is."

It’s more than a little bit messy (Avery spills the milk and gets a little over-enthusiastic dumping the mix into the bowl) but it’s fun. And, more importantly, Andy’s face when they finally bring her breakfast (well into the eights because Sam’s become a master at drawing things out to keep his eldest occupied) is well worth the early hour and messy kitchen.


	16. Naming Avery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:Tender: mcswarek
> 
> Tender: I will write some sweet fluff between our characters.

It’s an odd night where neither of them are on shift. Actually, Andy hasn’t been on shift for a couple of weeks now. Creeping up to 40 weeks pregnant, she’s useless at the precinct and they both think that maybe half of the cops are terrified she’s going to go into labour right there in the bullpen or something. 

(The closer she gets to 40 weeks the more worried they both get. First pregnancy and all and nothing can help them feel better about their firstborn not being on time. No baby books, doctors, not even Noelle or Traci. It makes them nervous.)

They’re on the couch and she’s nestled right against his chest. He runs his hand over her stomach, her back, anywhere he can reach. She’s been uncomfortable for so long, Braxton-Hicks at every turn and no amount of stress management has helped with her mood. This does though, these kind of quiet evenings where she can just float. 

"We have to pick a name."

She hums, threads her fingers into his over her round stomach. Over their baby. “Madison.”

Sam makes a disgruntled noise. “She bullied Sarah in elementary school.”

Andy snorts. She’s never been the type to believe name associations like that. “If it’s a boy, I’ve always wanted to call my kid Daniel.”

Sam doesn’t say anything for a moment, considering. 

"Danny."

And there’s so much adoration in the sound, like she already has a picture of the kid in her head and it makes his heart leap. He presses a kiss to her jaw, ignoring her whimper. 

(Her hormones have been all over the place, but dear God until he gets the okay from her doctor, he will not be having sex with her. She’s always uncomfortable and he hates that, so unless the doctors agree it’s a good labour-inducing exercise, he cannot do it. He cannot stand her in pain, or any sort of discomfort and especially not during, well, that.)

"We can call him Daniel."

She sighs and sounds so utterly content. He’d never thought they’d be here and he knows she hadn’t either. This is a miracle to them both, the fact that they’re here, together, with a baby set to appear any day now. 

"And if it’s a girl?" she asks, pushing her hips back against his. He gets his hand on the bone (she really hasn’t gained more weight than she has to, the doctor’s suggestion), holds her still. 

"You’re so picky about a girl."

Well, he has been. Because about six months ago while he’d been trying to keep himself awake (shift changes are brutal for consistent sleep patterns) he’d been scanning baby books and name sites (on Andy’s laptop, of course. There’s no way he wants anyone ever finding it in his history). He’d come across a name and fallen in love. But he hasn’t told her, hasn’t said a thing or even hinted at it. 

"You have to have an idea," she murmurs. "You’ve turned down every single one of my ideas."

He chews on it for a minute, considers. “Avery.”

She sucks in a breath. “Oh.”

He knows that sound. It’s the same one she’d released when they’d found out she was pregnant. It’s a good sound. 

"Avery," she repeats. "Avery."

He stays quiet, has to bite his tongue. He wants to convince her, he realizes, really wants that to be his daughter’s name. 

"I like it."


	17. Andy's Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:Scare: Sam and Andy  
> Scare: A nightmare my character has had about yours.

Neither of them are strangers to nightmares. In their line of work, they can’t be. The topics, the themes are wide and varying. She’s had some pretty stupid ones too, like she forgets her gun for a standoff, her legs get tangled up in her radio cord… 

But then there are the real nightmares, the ones that could be night terrors, that leave her heart pounding in her chest and her breath coming short in her lungs. 

"Andy?" 

She curls her knees up to her chest, tries to get that damn breathing under control. She hates the nightmares, especially when there’s no damn reason she should be having them. She feels his broad palm rest against the curve of her spine.

"Hey, McNally."

(He still calls her that at work, though she uses her married name just to mess with the rookies. It’s his way of grounding her, of bringing her back to earth when she’s panicking. He does it at home too, in situations like this, where she needs to breath and be a normal person.

She tries. For him she tries, but sometimes it’s not enough.)

"I had to take the girls to your funeral," she finally chokes out. 

She hears his quiet sigh, feels his nails scratch at her back gently.

"No funeral."

He’s still half asleep, she realizes, trying to comfort her through the tempting pull of sleep. Her breathing’s settled, so she settles back down, glad when he tugs her right into his side. He hums gently, a sound she can hear and feel from the ear pressed against his chest. 

(He’s done it with both Avery and Katie when they’ve been particularly unsettled. They figure it evens things out since she’s the one who did most of the pacing when both girls were just newborns. It’s particularly effective with the teething Katie, these days. She can’t count how many times she’s found him in the rocking chair with her tiny body curled up on his chest.)

Like her girls, the sound calms Andy too and she settles against him, pushing the nightmare to the back of her mind.


	18. Just Parent Time (Pre-Kids)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:Truth, Sam and Andy
> 
> Truth: My character will tell you what they think of yours in all honesty.

She’s bustling around the kitchen when he comes to the conclusion he can’t take this anymore. He can’t take the way they’re avoiding the elephant in the room, the elephant that’s come up twice now since he took a couple of bullets to the stomach. 

(They haven’t talked about it since it happened, the phone call. She’d bustled in the next morning happy as can be, like she hadn’t dialled his number at two am and confessed her feelings. 

Again.)

But he’s sick of avoiding it now, for a number of different reasons, only some of which are that damn phone call. Really, it’s more about the fact that he can’t hold it in anymore. He can’t keep dwelling on it while he cannot move more than a few feet without getting tired. 

(He starts physio soon. The stitches have been out for a week and he knows that means it isn’t long until he gets to actually move again. He hates being an invalid, even if it means McNally’s here catering to his every whim.)

"You shouldn’t be up."

He shrugs, even as he leans very heavily on the doorframe. 

"Sam, come on. Don’t be stubborn."

"M’fine."

(He’s not. There’s sweat beading on his brow and he’s starting to wonder if even the stitches came out too early. She doesn’t need to know that.)

"Gotta talk, McNally."

She balks, and he only knows because he’s watching her so closely. “Come on, Sam, you’re-“

"McNally."

She shuts up. Tone, he thinks, because he has this tone, the one he’s brought out when she’s panicking in the cruiser and he cannot have her doing that. His TO tone. 

"We don’t, Sam."

"I still love you."

That shuts her up, which, you know, is kind of what he’d been expecting. They’re not good with the whole feelings thing so putting out there like that? Guaranteed stunner. 

"Sam-"

He shakes his head, wants to call her out on her call, say that she’d promised. 

She breathes out, slow and loud. “I didn’t- I know I-“

He wants to tell her to just spit it out (part of him expects her to take it back), just say whatever is so obviously on the tip of her tongue but he holds out. It’s always paid off with McNally. She sucks at silence. 

(He finds it endearing and annoying in equal parts, and he thinks by now she’s figured that out. Which is too bad, because the look she gets when he’s annoyed with her, that sass and the come-at-me attitude is something else.)

Except she actually keeps silent for once, biting at her lip in that way that makes him want to take it between his own teeth. 

"McNally, come here."

"Sam," she whines.

"You just told me I should be resting. Come here."

She does, because he’s played on her guilt and her worry that he’s even out of bed, and when she’s close enough he reaches for her, gets his hands on her and pulls her in. 

"Sam."

He ignores the warning, pulls her in close, gets his arm around her back. It’s low enough that it doesn’t pull, doesn’t make anything uncomfortable. She’s gentle when her hands come up, splay across his back over his tshirt. He feels the twitch in her fingertips, the way she wants to fist his shirt in her hands. 

It takes a while, but eventually she relaxes, settles. 

"This is stupid," she says finally, into the cotton at his shoulder. "Sam, we’re stupid."

"Maybe," he concedes. 

She wiggles her way back, gets her eyes on his. There’s a moment (he will not go down that romantic bullshit path and call it ‘searching’, thanks) before she nods resolutely and brushes the softest of kisses over his mouth. 

"Come on," she says, like they haven’t just had a life-changing moment. "Let’s go to bed."


	19. Avery's Pregnancy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked:Night: Sam and Andy
> 
> Night: For the two am text/call

Avery’s second pregnancy is not near as smooth as the first. She’s had complications through the whole thing, pre-eclampsia, high stress, high blood pressure… It’s not exactly a surprise when the baby goes into distress. 

(It’s their fourth grandchild, so they’re kind of old hat at the whole thing. Except they haven’t had one like this, as scary as things had been when Andy had given birth to Danny. 

Avery still hasn’t come out of the anesthesia they used for the Cesarean.) 

Sam blows out a breath and pulls out his cell phone. Andy’s got Avery’s first-born, Jamie, at their place while Matt sits with newborn Leah. 

"Sam."

"Hey."

"Is everybody okay?"

"Leah and Matt are in the NICU, just in case," he tells her. "But the doctors are optimistic about the jaundice fading."

"All of our kids were jaundiced at first," she agrees quietly. "And Avery?"

He blows out a breath. “Still out.”

"What did Doctor Jones say?" 

"That they have to keep an eye on her. Probably have to keep her a couple of days. She hemorrhaged while they were pulling Leah out. Damn kid got her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck."

"Trouble-maker."

It’s a dark humour they’re used to in these distressing situations. 

"Jamie?"

"Still sleeping. I’ll bring him by in the morning. Unless Avery wakes up before then."

He smiles. “I’ll keep you posted.”

She breathes out a shaky breath. “Sam-“

"She’s going to be fine," he says, because she has to be. Because all of his kids have to be. His family has to be. "I’ll call you when she wakes up."

"Okay. Tell Matt and Leah. Kiss Avery."

He grins. His wife. “They send their love too, McNally.”

"Shut up."


	20. Talking about having kids

They take Avery to see the Santa Clause Parade when she’s a year old. Tommy comes with them, of course, and Traci with Leo. It’s a little awkward with the big stroller, and Avery throws a fit about being confined to it, but the minute the first float comes by, Avery is mesmerized. 

It’s a good day. 

And later, when they’re on the subway home - because even with Avery it’s too chaotic to think of driving downtown - and Avery’s curled up against Sam’s chest it hits her. 

She wants another one. 

It feels absolutely absurd. It feels like just yesterday that Avery started sleeping through the night and she’s set to return to work sooner than she’d like - she loves her job but Avery,  _Avery -_ but as she watches Sam cuddle their sleeping daughter, she finds herself picturing him with another one, finds herself thinking back to the days where Avery was an infant, swaddled in blankets and curled against Sam’s shoulder. 

She’d never thought about being a mom. Not really, not with any seriousness. Not until Sam and even then, she’d been absolutely and utterly terrified for it. Her mother’s not exactly the best role model and Andy’d pretty much raised herself. She had no idea what to do with Avery when she’d been born and placed against her chest. And Sam… Well Sam’s upbringing had been even less stable than her own. On paper, they’d make terrible parents. 

But then one day she’d looked at Sam and thought  _I want a family with this man._  All it had taken was a text, her preferred method of conversation when it comes to serious things and they’d agreed to try. 

And now, as she looks at him with a sleeping Avery curled against him, she knows she’s having that same moment again, the one that says  _I want another one_. 

Sam looks over at her, eyes sparking, heating. “McNally, stop. We’re on the damn subway.”

"Language," she says automatically. Her hand comes up, strokes over the panda hat Avery’s in love with. It doesn’t match her bright pink coat - Gail’s gift, actually - but it’s the only one she won’t whip off her head. "Sam."

"Don’t start something you can’t finish."

She laughs, can’t stop the way it sounds low and heated. “Never do.”

"Liar."

She grins, tries not to shiver when the corner of his mouth kicks up in a smirk. They really are on the subway, but she leans in nonetheless, catches his mouth quickly, deeply. He growls when she releases him. 

"Not fair. I’ve got the kid."

She hums, licks her lips. “We should do it again.”

He blinks at her. “What?”

"Have a kid," she says, fixing her eyes on Avery’s sleeping face. "We should do it again."

His hands tighten on their daughter. “McNally.”

There’s a warning there and she finds herself swallowing. 

"She’s just started sleeping through the night." 

"Six months ago."

"You’re just about to go back to work."

"And?"

He huffs out a breath, but there’s a smile lurking there. “You’ve been whining about being bored.”

Andy’s hand strokes Avery’s head. “We should have another one, Sam. She needs a brother. Or a sister. Like you and Sarah.”

And like everything she never had. 

Sam looks down at their daughter’s sleeping face, the innocence, the ease, then back at her, at the want she knows is in her eyes. “God, McNally, put the eyes away.”

She grins. “Come on, Daddy. Number two.”

And Sam turns to Traci, who’s been watching with amusement dancing in her eyes. “Can you take Ave, Trace?”

Traci’s shoulders shake for a moment as she suppresses her laughter. “I’ll follow you back and pick up her stuff.”

Sam faces Andy again, eyes sparkling. “Alright, McNally. Number two.”

Andy grins. 


	21. Cuddling

They’d made plans. Good plans. Cuddling plans. A quiet night catching up on  _The Amazing Race_  or  _Survivor_  or whatever other reality show that’s currently Andy’s guilty pleasure. But that’s not how it goes at all.

Instead, it’s been a long day. Too long, really, and every member of the McNally-Swarek clan is exhausted and running on fumes. Danny keeps picking fights with Avery and Katie keeps trying to suffocate Boo Radley. Every time she throws herself at the dog, he yelps and it is doing absolutely nothing to help Sam’s paperwork-induced headache. Andy’s not much better either. According to Epstein she took a closet door to the head when their perp had leapt out of hiding and taken off at a sprint. She’s got the goose egg to prove it. 

But it isn’t until Avery actually takes a swing back at Danny that Sam puts his foot down. 

"Ave, upstairs. Strip. You’re in the main bathroom." 

Avery knows better than to argue with that voice, but she pauses at the bottom of the stairs, hands on her little hips. “I get Momma.” 

He catches Andy’s slight nod. It’s not a problem. Katie and Danny are going through a faze where they get on like a house on fire. 

"Big bed in forty minutes," he calls after his eldest, snagging Andy’s elbow on the way by. "You good with her?" 

"Sounds like she wants Mom-time," Andy murmurs back, pops up on her toes to kiss him. "I’m good, Swarek. You’re the one taking the babies."

He is so not worried. 

And sure enough, bath time’s easy as pie, Katie and Danny mainly entertaining each other with a couple of small boats and a Hot Wheels that has seen better days. He can hear the low murmur of Andy’s voice as she brings Avery into the master bedroom and shoots Katie a look when she squawks at him for pulling the plug. 

It takes them twenty minutes, but eventually he’s got his wife snuggled against his side, Avery sprawled over her chest. Danny’s tiny body’s snuggled right against Andy’s on his chest, Katie curled around his shoulder. 

It’s not quite the cuddling he wants, and  _Hoodwinked_  is definitely not the movie he would have chosen, but he’s got his family dog piled all over him. He can’t really argue with that. 


	22. Morning Routine

Their morning routine is chaos.

 

“Mama, have you seen my chem text book?”

“I’ve got it, Ave. I borrowed it last night for an assignment.”

“Dad, I need my project!”

“Calm down, Dan, it’s by the door.”

“Katie, don’t forget your lunch.”

“So, I’m going straight to work after school, I won’t be home for dinner.”

“I’ll be late too, we’re painting sets today for the play.”

“Dan, I’ll pick you up after practice, And stop playing that damn game and drink your juice. Katie, Ave, you’re on your own.”

“Mom, can I have coffee.”

“Of course not.”

“Avery can.”

“Avery Grace!”

“I’m a teenager now! Almost eighteen! I graduate in a year and a half!”

“Exactly, a year and a half. I will not have any of you getting addicted to this stuff before you’re adults.”

“You are. Dad is.”

“We’re both adults, leave your mother alone.”

“That logic is messed up.”

“Welcome to being a parent.”

“Katie, put away the drawing and here. Toast. You’re going to have to eat on the run.”

“Toss me a granola bar?”

“Please.”

“Please.”

“Oh my God, Danny, did you hide my backpack again?”

“I did not! It was  _once_. And I gave it back!”

“Avery, don’t start with your brother. If you put it by the door of your room instead of tossing it wherever, this wouldn’t be a problem.”

“I saw it behind the couch.”

“Dan, seriously. Put it away.”

“I’ve got time.”

“You really don’t. Don’t make me take it away from you. Have an apple.”

“I hate apples.”

“You do not. A pear.”

“Deal.”

“Danny! We’re leaving without you!”

There’s the sound of running footsteps, of bickering and arguing at the front door and then a slamming door. Andy sighs as she slides into a chair beside Sam, pushing a coffee mug his way. Their mornings are often chaos. She’s never been more grateful for it in her life. 


	23. The Morning Sickness Thing

“I’m gonna be sick.”

He barely hears the words, half asleep as he is, but he does hear the retching. It makes him wince and bury his head in his pillow. He’s never been good with barfing and even the fact that it’s his wife can’t seem to stop him. 

“Still?” he asks her when she returns to the bed.

She groans and buries her head in his chest. “Two weeks now.”

“Sweetheart." 

She’s been at work is the thing and he thinks maybe she’s bribed or threatened a whole bunch of rookies not to say a damn word to anyone. He’s known it’s been a bit sketchy, her stomach, because he remembers watching her go green in the face over Shaw’s lunch last week. He just assumed it’s leftover from the nasty flu she’d caught. 

Now he’s worried. 

"I have an appointment,” she promises. “I really just want to, you know, eat real food.”

He wants to laugh, because since when do Frosted Flakes count as real food, but she sounds absolutely miserable and he feels more than a little helpless so he just wraps her up tight and hopes the comfort is enough. 

(Turns out, she’s pregnant.)


	24. Number Prompts

**Hero.**

Sam’s never really grown up with a hero. It hadn’t really been in the cards for him. Sure, he’s had people who have had really big influences in his life, but never someone he’d go as far as to deem a hero. 

(In fact, he’s pretty sure that the essay he wrote when asked that question had been incredibly depressing.)

Except then there’s Andy. He doesn’t want it, at first, the admiration, the affection, the way she’s just so damn goofy all the time until shit hits the fan, then there’s no one in the world he wants behind him more than her. Her strength is unmatched, her compassion is beautiful and he thinks that maybe he has an inkling of what it’s like to have a hero. 

And then she gives birth. Not once, not twice, but three times. His three kids. Three little mixes of the two of them that are stubborn and sarcastic and crazy and he loves them more than life. 

Those gifts, those three precious gifts, makes her his hero all over again. 

* * *

 

 **Drowning**  &  **All That I Have.**

The year Avery is born is tough. They try and balance as best they can, both of them career cops with no fricken clue how to raise a baby. They muddle along though and Avery seems happy enough. 

Katie though, Katie is a different story. Because it’s all different after the second one and the first year after Katie’s birth is almost literal hell. They’re so stressed, they’re at each other’s throats in the bad way more than anything else and neither of them feel like they’re floating. They’re drowning in all of it and it’s just a mess. 

And then they both come thisclose on a case and it’s the most terrifying thing they’ve ever sat through. 

(They give the kids to Oliver and Celery, both girls still too young to take on Tommy by themselves. They spend the night locked in their bedroom, eating on the bed and watching crappy movies. They talk and talk and talk and talk. 

Because this is everything,  _everything._  And they refuse to give it less than their all.)

* * *

 

**Advertisement.**

Danny gets it. Danny gets selected for the damn assignment. There’s flashes and pictures and a female cop he does not know but can’t seem to stop flirting with him… He hates it. He wants to be on the streets, dammit! That’s what he’s here to do. 

(When he tells his parents later, when they see the damn add on bus stop shelters, they laugh until they cry.

When he gets grumpy, they tell him to go ask Uncle Chris.)

* * *

**Cookies.**

Avery bakes cookies for the first time when she’s three. It’s Andy’s idea because they’re bored on a really rainy Tuesday afternoon (the shifts have been strange at Fifteen) and Avery’s a high energy kid. It’s a recipe Andy finds in some folder in the kitchen as they scramble for things to do. 

It’s a bad idea, they realize eventually. Sam tackles the chaos of the kitchen while Andy takes the kid (and the cookies don’t turn out that great, if they’re all honest) but it distracts their three-year-old and tuckers her out. 

(And while Avery naps, Sam and Andy clean themselves up. Together.)

* * *

 

**Drenched While Wearing White (Colour Me Rad Run)**

She is utterly and completely covered, head-to-toe. There isn’t a speck on her that is actually visibly human. She looks like a giant ball of neon colour. He knows he doesn’t look too much better, but Colour Me RAD had been an amazing experience. They’d had a team of them from Fifteen, all wearing stark white and running through balloons of corn-starch-based paint. 

And when they get home, they give Avery control of the hose. The water is freezing, and Avery holds nothing back, spraying them until they are soaked through and dripping colour, but he and Andy are laughing harder than they ever have before. 

(It turns into a family water fight as Sam pulls the guns from the shed, and Andy and Katie work to fill up as many balloons as they can. It’s an afternoon they repeat time and time again, even when the kids are old enough to run the 5K with them.)


	25. Avery's BF Asks Sam's Permission

Matt’s a good guy. A really good guy. He’s got a good job, a good family, a solid car… 

The thing about Matt is that he’s dating Sam’s eldest daughter. 

It’s not a new thing. Sam can remember the first time Avery brought Matt home. It’s been a long time, actually, so in reality, when Matt offers to play a pick-up basketball game with him, Sam is 90% sure something’s up. 

And he’s right. 

“Detective, I want to marry your daughter.”

Sam stumbles, almost falls, but just barely manages to catch himself. “Sorry?”

“Avery. I want to marry Avery.”

Sam freezes. Marry. God, Avery’s just… Well, she’s 27 actually. 28 soon. An adult. An adult of completely consensual marriage age. 

Marriage. 

“Detective?”

Sam waves Matt away. He should have known, really. Matt hasn’t called him detective since he took the kid to the shooting range. 

“You’re asking me for permission to marry my daughter?”

“Yes, sir.”

Sam tosses the ball back and forth between his hands. The kid’s good, Sam knows that. He treats Avery like there’s nothing in the world more important than her happiness and he sees how utterly in love Avery is. 

“You gonna keep her safe?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Make her happy?”

“Every day.”

“Hurt her?”

“Never intentionally, sir.” And there’s passion flaring in Matt’s eyes. “Never irreparably.”

Sam nods once, aware that it’s all he can ask for. “Then marry my kid.”

(Avery says yes.)


	26. First Fight in the Schoolyard

Sam thinks the proudest moment of his life is the Halloween all of his kids want to go out as Marvel heroes. For Avery, it’s not a surprise. Her obsession with Marvel started almost too young with stuffies of each Avenger. It’s no surprise she chooses to go as Captain America either, because, well, that’s Avery. 

Even Katie gets in on it, his little girl who has always marched to her own beat and loved every second. (“Daddy, I’m going as Hawkeye. Avery says I can go as Hawkeye.”) Sam grins because he knows Katie would have asked, just so she didn’t step on Avery’s toes and that Avery wouldn’t have thought for a second about saying no to Katie. (And he makes a mental note to talk Andy about getting Katie into archery because she talks about Hawkeye - the Clint Barton one - almost as incessantly as Avery talks about Cap.) 

Even Danny gets in on it (and Iron Man’s his favourite; he even convinces his best friend Charlie to dress up as Pepper because, as he explains, “Pepper runs everything and so does Charlie. I don’t mess with her.” Sam gets it. He’s only met Charlie a handful of times and he definitely gets what Danny’s talking about.)

It takes them months to put their costumes together, but each one of them is so horribly proud that Sam’s grinning from ear to ear as he sends his little family of superheroes off on the bus that morning. 

He gets a call at 10:15 from a harried sounding principal asking him to please come to the school as soon as he can. It freaks him right out and he barely explains what’s going on to Best before he’s racing out the door. (Andy’s off on assignment or something because technically it’s her turn to deal with the school. He’d been the one to pick up Avery when she’d all but puked her guts up the last time.) 

The secretary waves him through and he finds his two daughters on the principal’s couch, Katie’s eyes red and wet. Avery’s got Katie pulled tight to her side, glaring defiantly at the principal. He nods at the principal before turning to his daughters. 

“Who wants to tell me what happened?” he asks quietly, resting his hand on Katie’s back and rubbing. He wants to hear it from them first, not the principal’s version of events. 

“I punched a boy,” Avery says and turns those dark, defiant eyes on his. They’re her mother’s eyes and he’d probably smile if she didn’t look so damn serious. 

“We don’t punch people, Ave, you know that.”

“He made fun of Katie.”

That sends Sam’s eyebrow up. “Oh yeah?”

“He said superheroes were for boys only.” She spits out the last two words and Sam has to bite his cheek pretty hard. It’s not a laughing matter, it’s really not, and there’s at least two-thirds of him that is actually livid that someone could say such a thing, period, let alone say it to his kid. 

“He said Katie had to go change, go put on her dress or something because- because- because-" 

Sam reaches out, squeezes his eldest’s hand. She never can find words when she’s worked up. 

"So I punched him. He made Katie cry!”

“Okay,” Sam agrees as neutrally as he can. He focuses on Katie then, reaches a hand out to wipe at her tears. “Is that what happened, Bug?”

“They said Avery couldn’t be Cap first,” comes her small voice. “That we weren’t allowed to be the boy superheroes, we had to be girls.” Then her face hardens and he knows he’s looking into his own visage. It’s terrifying. “But Kate shoots arrows too!”

Oh, he hadn’t thought about that. Of course Katie would remember; they share the same name. “That’s right, Bug." 

"But it doesn’t matter if I’m Kate or if I’m Hawkeye-” (she can’t remember Clint’s name for the life of her. Ever. And Sam thinks it’s too early to worry about differentiating between Kate Bishop and Clint Barton) “because superheroes are for  _everybody_. That’s what you and Mama always say.”

“You’re right we do,” Sam agrees because he’s not an idiot. Noelle is even more formidable than she’d been before she’d had a kid and he’s seen Peck and Price take down men twice their size and weight, not to mention Andy herself. Superheroes come in all shapes and sizes and he and Andy have made sure that with all of the Marvel the kids watch and read (because Katie “reads” the comic books as best she can given that she’s six. Which, is actually pretty well given that’s she’s, well, six) the kids understand that superheroes can be anyone and anything. 

He presses a kiss to Katie’s wet cheek. “Okay. Give me a few minutes to talk to Mr. Andrews.”

When the girls are outside, he cocks a head at the principal. “Where’s the other kid?”

“We’ve sent him back to class with some ice. She got his eye.”

And while he may have told Avery that punching another kid was a bad idea, he feels the slightest tinge of satisfaction at the idea of the kid ending up with a shiner. “And his punishment?”

Mr Andrew shakes his head. “Unfortunately, Detective, there’s nothing we can do. All we can say is that he needs to stop, that he can’t treat other people like that. According to policy it’s not enough to justify bullying accusations and unfortunately, your daughters are the only ones that are saying they were teased first.”

He growls. He doesn’t like this. At all. “My daughter is crying out there and all you can tell me is that your hands are tied?”

“I’m sorry,” the principal says again. “I wish there was something we could do in this situation. I have a daughter myself and honestly, Detective, I would be just as angry in your shoes. She is the best thing that ever happened to me and if she wants to pretend she’s Snow White or Wolverine, I’m not going to stop her. Unfortunately these incidents are not part of school policy. As it is, from most of the accounts Avery should be up for a suspension.”

“She was defending her sister.”

“I understand that and I will be holding back on the suspension due to these extenuating circumstances.” Andrews sighs. “We try, Detective. We don’t tell girls or boys what they can and cannot do that is outside of the realm of safety. We only tell parents that there are appropriate clothes, appropriate costumes, projects, language, but in situations like this, unfortunately it’s often out of our hands.”

Sam doesn’t like it, not one bit. In fact, it pisses him right off. “That’s crap.”

“Be that as it may,” the principal says, though Sam gets the feeling the man is rather agreeable to his point of view, “I will have to send Avery home today. No suspension.”

So, Sam does the only thing he can do. He shakes the principal’s hand and takes both Katie and Avery to the precinct. He’s still on shift after all, and the girls haven’t been by in a while. They play with whoever will have them, and closer to the end of the day, Best even puts together a little hunt for them where Hawkeye and Captain America have to save the candy from being eaten. And Sam knows that it’ll come back, that one day Avery or Katie will turn to him and remember the hurt, but he thinks in the end, his girls have a good day.

And if only weeks later, Sam runs into the kids’ parents at an open house (because both Avery and Katie had been very forthcoming with his name) and maybe explains to them what their son has done (he hesitates to use the word threaten, but, well, Andy had), he’s not telling. And whether he did it or not, no one picks on Katie for the rest of primary school.

(Years later, Katie wins OFSAA archery champion and Avery comes home from school just to cheer her on. Because one day, Avery punched a kid that made Katie cry. Sam thinks there’s no better loyalty than that.) 


	27. Shit You're Bleeding

He’s never reacted so badly to a shooting in his life. Not even in the beginning, where Andy’d almost been shot standing beside a kid in a red coat. Not even when he’d been in that undercover apartment with her, when she’d gone undercover, when she’d been holding that damn grenade. 

It takes him a while to get to her through the chaos. Turns out she’s fine, gun drawn, her face a hard mask but Jesus, his heart is beating so hard in his chest he thinks he’s going to faint. He is going to faint. 

“Shit, you’re bleeding.”

She looks down, catches sight of her hands, her vest. “Not mine,” she says tersely. The glance draws his eyes to the guy on the ground, to Price who’s got the guy’s shoulder beneath her hands. Could have been worse, he thinks. The damn shoulder’s bleeding, but a couple of inches lower and he knows the guy’d be gone. 

“ETA 5 minutes for EMTs,” comes Epstein’s voice over the radio. 

“Copy,” he barks, gets down with Price. “Hey man. Looks like you’re going to have a nasty scar.”

“Happens,” the guy coughs. “God it hurt.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got to stay with us, okay? With me and Officer Price here.”

“And your girl?”

Sam darts him a smile then. “Yeah. No better one around. You’re in good hands.”

McNally nudges him with her foot and he knows she’s going to be annoyed with him later but he doesn’t care. He gets to take her home, take her home to their daughter, whole and unharmed. 

And really, that’s all that matters. 


	28. Andy Might Be Pregnant - #4

They sit together on the edge of the bathtub, pregnancy test in Andy’s hand because Sam just can’t. She’s late, too late, because even with the stress of the job her body’s almost obsessively regular and the only times she’s ever miss it’s been because ten months later, she’s giving birth to one of their three kids. 

Three. 

This would be four. 

God he can’t wrap his head around it. Danny’s just out of diapers, Katie goes to full-time kindergarten in the fall, and it’s not like they aren’t careful. This is the reason they are careful. 

“How much longer?” she asks, her voice shaking. They don’t want a fourth kid, not really. Three is enough. 

Three is more than enough. 

Sam checks his watch. “We should be good.”

Andy sucks in a breath, then looks down. 

A single line. 

“False alarm.”

“What?”

She lets out a bit of hysterical laughter. “God, Sam, it was a false alarm. I’m not pregnant.”

He swings her up into his arms the same way he did when she’d given him the opposite answer. They both feel a bit like the dodged a bullet. 


	29. Danny Brings Home a Girlfriend

Turns out, Danny’s the first one to bring over a significant other. 

He’s seven, and he begs Andy and Sam to let him bring a friend home from school. (They have rules about that. No friends on a school night. Not after Katie and her best friend had fought on a Tuesday evening and Katie didn’t sleep for a week). 

He walks in the door on a Wednesday afternoon, hand-in-hand with a little girl named Jackie and proudly introduces her as his girlfriend. Sam has to choke down his laughter while Andy stutters through a hello. They’ve never had this “problem” with the girls. Avery’s a tomboy who couldn’t care less about whether a boy likes her or not and Katie’s so shy and quiet sometimes they worry she has no friends.

(Later that night, he has to sit Andy down and talk her off the ledge. He’s seven and Sam doesn’t think Jackie’ll stay long. 

She doesn’t. Two weeks later he has a new girlfriend. 

It foreshadows his teenage years.)


	30. Katie's Pregnancy

It’s a year after their last baby gets married. Mother’s Day has always been a massive deal in the McNally-Swarek household (and no one is oblivious to why, either) and this one is no different. All three kids are crowded into the living room, their spouses included and Andy has to admit, it’s much louder than she’s used to.

(Avery lives in Scarborough with her husband and doesn’t make it across the city nearly as often. Danny’s an OPP cop, stationed too far away from home because he’d wanted to carve his own path separate from his TPS parents. Katie’s the only one that’s stayed close to home, probably in part because she’d met her husband through 15, and they see her every couple of weeks, but it’s the holidays that really bring them all closer together.)

Andy thinks it’s wonderful. Every once in a while, she misses the days where her kids couldn’t stop bickering over the dinner table, or screaming over who got to pick the television show. This is different though, a different kind of fulfillment because she looks at all three of her kids and cannot help the pride that fills her heart. Because she’s a woman without a mother and had not been anywhere close to confident in raising one kid, let alone three. 

Yet here they are, all happy and married, with good jobs and good hearts and these are the moments she thinks that maybe she and Sam did it; they succeeded. 

She’s just taking it in, absorbing her family, her continually growing family when she sees Katie and her husband Jack exchange a look that is too significant to ignore.

“Bug?" 

Her middle child blushes bright red - she’s done it since she was a kid, she’s a terrible liar because of it and a terrible secret keeper. It’s not her fault - and Avery and Danny, who have been bickering over Canada’s youth crime laws again, quiet immediately. 

Andy watches as Katie slips from Jack’s grasp and picks up a pink, lace-covered bag. (The kids all know Andy’s general aversion to pink and now that they’re adults, they rub it in as often as they can.) Andy takes it slowly because she can see the nerves in her daughter’s face, and the way Katie chews at her lips. Katie’s nerves have always made Andy nervous. She doesn’t tend to get rattled that easily (she’s always been extremely adaptable and easy going) and it has always thrown both Andy and Sam off when she gets that way. 

So it’s with slow tender hands that Andy pulls the tissue paper from the bag and, along with it, a box only slightly larger than her palm. Inside, are a pair of pale green booties. They look like ones that had been Avery’s, then Katie’s, then Danny’s, a gift from Oliver’s second wife. 

"Katie?” This time it’s Sam that speaks up. It’s not a surprise. They have three grown kids, and no room for another now. Danny and Avery’s faces give away no clues. In fact, they look just as confused as Andy feels. Only Jack’s eyes are shining and Andy finds herself gasping. 

Katie’s smile is shy. “We were hoping you’d hang onto them,” she says. “For when you babysit.”

Sam lets out a choked sound, but Andy can barely breathe. 

Katie offers a bit of an embarrassed shrug. “I’m pregnant.”

Chaos ensues after that and Andy learns that no, her other two kids hadn’t the slightest idea. She watches Sam cup Katie’s face, press a kiss against her forehead like he’d done when she was a child. There are tears in her eyes as she gets her own hands on Katie, as she pulls her second baby close. 

“Pregnant,” she murmurs and hates that she’s so emotional over something so simple. “God, Katie, you’re going to be a mom!" 

Katie giggles, eyes alight, and it warms all of the corners of Andy’s heart.

Until Jack pipes up with, "So Andy, is it going to be Grandma or Gran?”

Andy pales. 

Grandma. 

Good God.


	31. Avery's First Hockey Game

Sam takes Avery to her first hockey game when she’s two. It’s a bit of an accident, actually, because the original plan had been to give him and Andy a night off. Oliver was set to babysit, everything was going to be awesome. 

Except Andy had gone into labour. Katie is beautiful, if small and early, but it means that Andy’s not really up to a hockey game. So he takes Avery instead. 

And realizes very quickly that it’s a mistake. 

Habs versus Leafs is not really a good idea. The games are chaos on a good day and it’s not really a good place for a toddler. To her credit, Avery takes it all in with wide eyes. She’s never seen anything this chaotic, not even the handful of times they’ve taken her in to visit 15. But the language is salty, the number of drunk people is more than Sam is comfortable with and he thinks he almost loses her in the crowd twice. 

But it turns out starting her early is a good idea. A week later, he’s channel surfing when Avery wanders in. He flips over the Leaf game (because he does not care; he’s loyal to his Canadiens) and his daughter pipes up. 

“Key!" 

"Ave?" 

"Key, Dada.”

It still doesn’t make sense, so he flips back slowly. When he pauses on the game, Avery actually bounces as best she can (she’s still a little off-balance on the whole walking thing) and even though it’s the blasted Leafs, he watches the whole game with his daughter. 

His little hockey fan.


	32. Wait a minute. Are you jealous?

“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?”

“Jealous? Of what?” Sam retorts staring down at his daughter’s sleeping face. The second, he’s discovered, is just as intense as the first. Katie seems like just as much of a miracle as her sister and he finally,  _finally_ gets to cuddle with her. 

“Everyone,” Andy answers on a tired laugh. “I can’t believe she slept through Pass the Baby.”

Sam runs a finger down Katie’s cheek. It’s not that he’s jealous, really. He has a tradition is all. He’d cuddled Avery for hours after her birth - she’d been born in the middle of the night. No one had shown up until morning. But Katie’s had come into the world in the middle of the afternoon. As a result, there had been a veritable parade of friends, family and well-wishers, all of whom took their turn with the sleeping infant. 

So unlike Avery, this is the first time he’s had the chance to really hold her since the nurses had wheeled her into Andy’s room. 

“I think you’re going to be a doctor,” Sam murmurs. “You’re already saving up your sleep.”

“You’re going to be so disappointed when she grows up to be a starving artist,” Andy murmurs, watching him with eyes so rich with emotion. There’s an ease to her now, exhaustion settling in as well as the bone deep contentment he knows they both share. 

Sam makes his way to the bed. Andy shifts without being asked, lets him climb up with her, Katie cuddled in the crook of his other arm. Andy sighs, her hand coming up to settle on the baby’s stomach. 

“We did it,” she whispered. 

“Again.”

She smiles. “Again.”

He kisses his wife’s head. “Love you.”

Andy’s head falls limply to his shoulder, finally giving in to the exhaustion of giving birth and their family. “You too.”


	33. Cuddling

They’d made plans. Good plans. Cuddling plans. A quiet night catching up on _The Amazing Race_  or  _Survivor_  or whatever other reality show that’s currently Andy’s guilty pleasure. But that’s not how it goes at all.

Instead, it’s been a long day. Too long, really, and every member of the McNally-Swarek clan is exhausted and running on fumes. Danny keeps picking fights with Avery and Katie keeps trying to suffocate Boo Radley. Every time she throws herself at the dog, he yelps and it is doing absolutely nothing to help Sam’s paperwork-induced headache. Andy’s not much better either. According to Epstein she took a closet door to the head when their perp had leapt out of hiding and taken off at a sprint. She’s got the goose egg to prove it. 

But it isn’t until Avery actually takes a swing back at Danny that Sam puts his foot down. 

“Ave, upstairs. Strip. You’re in the main bathroom." 

Avery knows better than to argue with that voice, but she pauses at the bottom of the stairs, hands on her little hips. "I get Momma." 

He catches Andy’s slight nod. It’s not a problem. Katie and Danny are going through a faze where they get on like a house on fire. 

"Big bed in forty minutes,” he calls after his eldest, snagging Andy’s elbow on the way by. “You good with her?" 

"Sounds like she wants Mom-time,” Andy murmurs back, pops up on her toes to kiss him. “I’m good, Swarek. You’re the one taking the babies.”

He is so not worried. 

And sure enough, bath time’s easy as pie, Katie and Danny mainly entertaining each other with a couple of small boats and a Hot Wheels that has seen better days. He can hear the low murmur of Andy’s voice as she brings Avery into the master bedroom and shoots Katie a look when she squawks at him for pulling the plug. 

It takes them twenty minutes, but eventually he’s got his wife snuggled against his side, Avery sprawled over her chest. Danny’s tiny body’s snuggled right against Andy’s on his chest, Katie curled around his shoulder. 

It’s not quite the cuddling he wants, and  _Hoodwinked_  is definitely not the movie he would have chosen, but he’s got his family dog piled all over him. He can’t really argue with that. 


	34. Avery's Sick

“McNally.”

“A hundred.”

“What?”

“She’s a hundred degrees.”

Andy starts in her seat. “Sorry?”

“Avery. She’s been cranky all day. I took her temperature. It’s a hundred degrees.”

“She has a fever.”

“I got that far, McNally.”

“Don’t sass me, Sam Swarek, she is my kid too.”

“I just… she’s sick. A sick baby. I should… take her to the hospital.”

Andy closes her eyes, forces herself to not panic. It’s bad enough that Sam’s losing it - and she can hear it in his voice, no matter how much he’ll deny it later - she can’t too. “No, no. It’s fine. Uh. I think a hundred is fine.”

“Fine? She’s fifteen months old, with a fever of a hundred. How is that okay?”

Andy shoves her cell phone between her shoulder and her ear, pulling up Google as fast as her fingers will type. “Uh… 103.”

“What?”

“103 you take her to the hospital, Sam.”

“She’s a hundred degrees.”

“103 is the scary temperature,” she repeats. “Uh…” She scans the article quickly. “Is she uncomfortable.”

“Why do you think I took her temperature, McNally?”

“Tylenol.”

She hears Avery cry out, Sam’s heavy sigh. “I got her down but.”

“Bathroom, Detective. My dad may have given us some children’s Tylenol in that kit I got at the shower.”

Her father had thought it was so funny at the time, a bunch of ridiculous things like thermometers and bandaids, Polysporin. “She was such an accident prone kid,” Tommy had said with a grin. “I should have bought stock the day she was born.”

She hears the rattling of the medicine cabinet, bottles being shoved this way and that. She can hear him muttering and smiles, grins almost. “Aha!”

“Got it?” 

“Yeah.” 

She’s losing him, she can tell. It would be annoying, but he’s kind of hilariously adorable when he’s focused on their daughter. “Sam.”

“Yeah.”

She’s got him, just until Avery’s next cry, she knows. “If you take her to the hospital, you call me.”

“Yeah.”

And he’s gone.

(She gets home a couple of hours later, after sending who knows how many panicked texts about Avery’s well-being, her fever, if she’s eating, everything she can think of. She tries not to panic the whole way home, tries not to freak out when calling and calling and calling does absolutely nothing. 

And lets out the biggest breath of relief when she finds them both conked out on the couch.)


	35. Victoria Day Fireworks

As it turns out, it’s Katie that’s terrified of the fireworks. Avery’s done this before (she’s a bit of a champion, actually, and she’s only 3) but Katie…

Well Katie bursts into tears when the first one goes off.

It’s so unanticipated that the whole Fifteen Family kind of panics. In hindsight, it’s funny, watching a bunch of TPS cops react to a one year old like her tears are a personal affront to each of them. At the time, Sam, who is the one holding her, finds it a little embarrassing. His utterly quiet little baby - though, anyone juxtaposed against Avery is always going to be ‘quiet’ - with her little hands covering her ears, absolutely screaming.

And unfortunately, for the panicked Katie, the cacophony of fuss Fifteen kicks up isn’t exactly helping. Sam knows that the best thing for Katie is to get her out of there. She gets overwhelmed, especially in large groups of people and _especially_  when she’s the centre of attention. His little introvert. Except he kind of can’t really move. 

But through it all, comes a little hand, the light weight of his eldest leaning against his shoulder. Avery gets her face right in Katie’s enough to startle the younger girl. 

“Otay,” Avery says, face serious. “Datie. Otay.”

Katie’s screams silence. Tears still track down her face, but the screaming stops, despite the bangs that leave her little body shaking. Sam blinks in awe as Avery settles against his side again, pats the place she leaves at her own feet, against Sam’s thigh. “Daddy. Datie sit here.”

He does as he’s told, settles Katie between him and Avery. Avery shuffles in close and takes her sister’s hand. “Pretty, Datie,” she says, boxing Katie in. “Not scary. Pretty. They not get you.”

Katie seems a little skeptical at first, and she looks at Sam, then past him to Andy. His wife shuffles, slips around him and rests her palm on his lower back. Her other hand goes to Katie’s waist, splays across her stomach even as Avery stays close. 

“They’re just fireworks,” Andy says. “A little loud, a little bright, but they won’t hurt you Katie.”

Then, his littlest turns to him, eyes wide, still scared. So he reaches across his body, tangles his fingers with Andy’s at Katie’s waist. “You’re safe, Bug,” he tells her. “Mama and Daddy are here. Avery’s here. They won’t hurt you.”

And yes, okay, maybe he’d like to whisk her off, tuck her into the car where she can see the damn things without quite so much noise, but he’s got Andy pressed to his back, Avery holding Katie’s little hand tight and Katie, well, isn’t screaming. 

Playing hero can wait. 


	36. Babymoon

He’d been thinking somewhere exotic. Somewhere with a beach where he could ogle his wife in a bikini, pregnant belly or no. But Andy’s been exhausted and on the edge of her temper with the doctor threatening bedrest because of her stress levels and as much as he love his wife, he refuses to spend five hours in a tin can with her when she can’t see her feet. 

Instead, he splurges on something else entirely. 

He’s never stayed in the Royal York. Cop’s salaries aren’t great when it comes to what amounts to renting Fairmont property for a few nights, but the place is gorgeous, the beds the softest thing Sam’s ever slept on in his life, and the bathroom has a jacuzzi tub that could be a swimming pool. 

Andy’s definitely in heaven.

They spend their days on the soft bed, wandering out for meals in the downtown core. They take the time to visit the aquarium and he even treats her to a late summer Jays game, the roof of the Skydome open, the heat tempered by the cool breeze that shifts between spectators. Nothing strenuous, nothing hard, nothing stressful. It’s not perfect, there are a couple of tough moments where he’s a little worried, but they make it. 

Andy settles herself back on the bed again - her back’s been bugging her and she’s been suffering from what they’re pretty sure are Braxton-Hicks all day - her eyes fluttering shut. Sam shifts up beside her, presses a kiss to her forehead. 

“Mm, can we just babymoon all the time?” 

He chuckles as he strokes her protruding stomach, his daughter safely ensconced inside. 

(She’s been active all day, his little girl. She’d loved the baseball game, even if the Jays had lost in spectacular Toronto fashion, and the way his wife’s been shifting uncomfortably for all but maybe three hours around lunch time, he’s basically convinced this baby’s going to be a bundle of high energy.)

“Sam, I’m serious.”

“Don’t know if this little one’s going to give us much of a choice, McNally. Takes after her mom.”

Her hand comes to press against his, shift it around until he feels a whole foot against his palm. Andy sighs, curls into the touch. 

“Is it weird?”

He hums. 

“The fact that in, like, a month we’re not just going to be McNally and Swarek? We’re going to be McNally, Swarek and… McSwarek.”

Sam snorts. “Seriously?”

“Well, that won’t be her name, obviously. But the kid’s half McNally, half Swarek…”

He kisses her to shut her up - because when she talks about the baby she tends to ramble like she did when she was just a nervous rookie - and she melts against him, into him. He loves that she still does it, marriage and their daughter on the way be damned. 

“It’s one kid, McNally,” he murmurs against her mouth, can’t stop himself from kissing her again. “We handle rookies every day, you think we can’t handle a kid?” 

She breathes out, her fingers clutched in his t-shirt. Then she laughs a little. “You promised me we could handle anything.”

He remembers it, vividly, her in white, her hair up, neck bare in ways that Do Things to him. “You and me, McNally.”

She blows out another heavy breath, one that segues into a groan and Sam stiffens beside her. His hand slides over her stomach, feels the taut strength of the muscles. “Sweetheart-”

“Yeah,” she says, her head dropping back. “I’m thinking we’re going to be handling this kid earlier than we thought.” 

He blinks for a moment. “Good thing we’re not in the Bahamas.”

She hits him. 


	37. Avery's Birth

God, his baby girl is beautiful. Stunning. He is so, so screwed when she becomes a teenager, doubly screwed if she turns out like her mother…

“Hey.”

Sam’s grin covers the entirety of his face as he looks up to find Traci and Steve in the doorway. Traci’s grin is wide and adoring and while she’s quiet, she doesn’t bother to wait for Sam’s invitation before coming in. He and Steve share a commiserating look as Traci coos over the newest addition to the Fifteen family. 

“Sam.” 

Even Traci’s voice is breathless, reverent and Sam chuckles softly because yeah, yeah he gets it. She brushes a finger down the infant’s cheek. 

“How’d she do?” 

The question comes from Steve, just loud enough for Sam to hear without disturbing the sleeping Andy. 

“She was…”

Amazing. Beautiful. Stunning. A whole bunch of five dollar words that are going to make him sound like an utter and absolute sap. Steve’s laughter is low and understanding. 

“She have a name?” Traci asks, well aware of the long-standing argument over names. 

(Then again, Andy had been convinced it would be a boy so.)

“Avery,” Sam says just as the tiny girl in question shifts, cries out. His eyes go to Andy immediately, the fluttering eyes of a woman already in tune with her child. 

“Sam.”

He brings Avery over without thought, trailed by Steve and Traci. She holds her arms out for her daughter, barely registers Traci and Steve’s presence until her arms are wrapped around the newborn. 

“Trace. Hey.”

“Hey,” Traci says, just as Steve asks, “Am I chopped liver?”

Andy laughs, a low tired sound as she strokes Avery’s cheek. “You drew the short straw.”

Traci’s already seated on the bed, Steve at her shoulder and Sam thinks that if Andy had been more awake and less focused on their little miracle, she would have asked if they were next. 

(They’re not, they know, but Sam doesn’t think it’ll be long now before Traci’s considering whether or not Peck is a better name than Nash.)

“Andy.” 

And even Andy’s name sounds reverent, the same way he’d sounded the first time the doctor had shoved a sobbing Avery into his arms. But Andy’s laugh, the smile on her face, is absolutely everything. 

“Is this how it felt?” Andy asks, her eyes looking up at Traci’s, mother to mother. “Is this what it felt like for you?”

“Amazing?” Traci asks with a laugh (and she reaches for Steve’s hand, flailing in the space between them before he catches it), “Like there’s nothing in the world like it? Yeah.”

Andy’s eyes are luminescent as she turns her gaze to Sam, as his hand reaches out to rest on top of hers. Their baby, their girl, their miracle. 

Their Avery.


	38. First night home with Avery

Sam doesn’t sleep the first night they bring Avery home.

It’s paranoia, and he’s smart enough and comfortable enough in everything he is to admit that. But Avery’s so tiny in her absolutely empty crib with the stars dancing across the ceiling and he is utterly paranoid that she’s going to stop breathing. Either that, or he’s terrified that he’s going to go to sleep and the last few years won’t have been real. 

Andy is asleep. She’s still exhausted and Avery’s already pretty regular with her feedings (according to the nurses, he hadn’t been allowed to just stay) and she’s been up every three hours. Otherwise, Avery is apparently a model baby. 

So yes, okay, Sam’s waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it also means that at the first sign of Avery’s fussing, he’s there to reach into the crib. 

“Hey Ave.” 

She stops the minute she’s in his arms, smacks her lips and flails a little. The flailing has taken some getting used to now that they don’t have to swaddle her in a blanket. It doesn’t help the feeling he always has that with one wrong shift he could be dropping his own damn daughter.

“Yeah, there we go, huh? We’re going to let Mommy get some more sleep. Give her a break.” 

And okay, maybe steal a few moments. 

He feels like that’s all he’s been able to do since she came screaming into the world. Steal moments. Moments with Andy, moments with Avery and now, he has them home, he has them all to himself, but there are thing he is just not biologically capable of doing. So sue him if he clings when he can, because it’s only a matter of time before Avery doesn’t want him anymore. 

(He is not jealous of his wife. He is not. She was miserable close to the end of her pregnancy and she’s always talking about leaking and soreness and the lack of sleep… He’s not jealous. It’s just, sometimes he wishes even this small, Avery wanted him a little bit more.)

He finds himself laughing a little as he settles back in the rocking chair, as he looks up at Avery’s nursery. It’s different here, he realizes, home with her rather than in the hospital. It feels just a little bit more real, a little bit more solid and fluid. It feels right and whole and like he’s finally  _finally_  getting everything he’s always wanted.

“She cry yet?”

She’s small enough to cradle in one hand and Sam does exactly that, waving for Andy to go back to bed. “You’re not here.”

Andy laughs. It’s an exhausted sound. “Don’t know if you can give her what she’s looking for there, Detective.”

Sure enough, Avery’s started rooting around. He sighs and puts on an exaggerated pout that makes her laugh again. “I feel unloved.”

She kisses him as she takes Avery, settles back in the chair. He gets the pillow for her, helps her arrange Avery, then stands back. (The stories are right: it certainly is something to watch his wife nurse their daughter.)

“Hey,” she says. “Come here.” 

He gives her his hand, lets her tug him in. 

“Sit,” she commands, and he’d tease her, but she just looks so tired. This whole feeding thing without the eight straight hours his wife likes is ragging on her. But he sits, on the freaking floor, and lets her card her hands through his hair. 

“We’re starting her on bottles next week,” Andy murmurs. 

He hopes the way he perks up at the idea doesn’t show on his face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Andy replies. “If you’re going to be up with her anyway, may as well make you useful. I love this kid, but I need eight straight.”

God, the image. He likes it. Bottle feeding Avery while Andy sleeps, getting that time to tell his daughter about… anything. Everything. 

“Okay.”

She grins. 


End file.
